Our granddaughter Carrie is famous with us for saying she knows when we get to the beach because you start seeing palm trees. We feel the same way, but link those palm trees to warm temperatures (preferably 70+) and great sunsets… and great seafood… and great water activities… and… the list goes on and on.We left Myrtle Beach and drove, more like meandered, towards Brunswick, Georgia.
The pin on the map and the reason for stopping over in Brunswick was to visit Jekyll Island. We thought about staying at the campground on the island but after meandering a little more than we should have we were going to get to Jekyll Island way too late in the day to be able to enjoy it so we stopped at a Cracker Barrel instead. It was just off I-95 but actually pretty isolated and quiet. We got a good night’s rest and got up the next morning to “do Jekyll Island”.
The drive over the bridge to the island is always a scenic one and it did not disappoint this time either. Our fee to get on the island, I guess because they think we are an oversized vehicle, was $10. $10 is dirt cheap for a day on such a great island. We drove along the coast and headed straight for the area at the end of the island at the fishing pier. We knew there was a parking lot there and we found the very best spot open when we got there and pulled in with water in front of us and beside us, literally right at the bay. After waiting out a rain storm, which was actually pretty awesome to see from the van as it came in over the water, we took the bikes off the new FIAMMA bike racks and went for our first bike ride of this trip. Destination? Driftwood Beach. It was a short ride to the opening to get to the beach and we walked and walked, mesmerized at the beauty of the driftwood trees. If you haven’t seen these, they are not pieces of wood that you may be accustomed to seeing at other beaches. They are full trees, sometimes with roots still attached that have been uprooted by storms and carried to the graveyard for trees on Jekyll Island.
Our time at Driftwood Beach was made even better by arriving back at our bikes just in time to witness the local birds all taking a bath in pond near the entrance. What could be better? It was amazing to watch as hundreds of birds flew in, took a bath and flew off to roost in nearby trees.
We had a great dinner at Marsh Side restaurant on the way back “home”, which was actually the same Cracker Barrel as the night before. The drive back there took us by the marina and we stopped, something we never did so much in our previous life of traveling but now we stop all the time. The reward? A beautiful sunset coloring sailboats and water. Dark set in and we tucked ourselves in at the Cracker Barrel resort and spa. Seriously, it has everything a van dweller could want… food, bathroom, level paved lot, permission to spend the night and the safety of numbers of others who feel the same about this unique way to spend the night while traveling. There’s just something pretty cool about sleeping right at a restaurant and paying zero dollars to do it. If you haven’t done that you should try it some day.
Here’s This Week’s YouTube Episode:
VAN TREKKING lifestyle 